Featured: Dr. William F. Strong, Communications Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and creator of the radio program “Stories from Texas,” is currently adapting “Stories” into a book. The audiobook is currently in production, and the radio show continues to air on 88FM (the Rio Grande Valley’s National Public Radio affiliate), as well as on other NPR and cable stations. The Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council, along with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and its Board of Directors, lobby the Texas Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents on matters that benefit and protect UTRGV and its School of Medicine, which have major campuses in the city.

For the third consecutive month, Edinburg posted the lowest unemployment rate in the Rio Grande Valley, coming in at 4.6 percent for April 2018, with 39,252 individuals employed that month in the city, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced.

Edinburg was one of two Rio Grande Valley economies for April 2018 which had an unemployment rate of less than five percent. McAllen was second with a 4.7 percent unemployment rate.

For April 2018, there were 39,252 individuals employed in the city, compared with 38,407 persons working in April 2017 – representing an addition of 845 jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, which released statewide figures on Friday, May 18, 2018.

Also, Edinburg saw a growth of 49 jobs when comparing the monthly total for April 2018 (39,252) and March 2018 (39,203), the Texas Workforce Commission also reported.

The unemployment rate for Edinburg during March 2018 was 4.7 percent.

The unemployment rate is a key indicator of the strength of the local economy.

The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of Councilmember Enríquez as President, Edinburg School Board Trustee Miguel “Mike” Farías as Vice-President, Councilmember Salinas as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Molina and Mayor Pro Tem Torres as Members.

In addition, the April 2018 unemployment rate of 4.6 percent represents the sixth time during that month that the city’s unemployment rate has been below five percent since 2005, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The number of jobs in Edinburg is independently documented by the Texas Workforce Commission, a state agency with many key duties, such as maintaining and reporting on key trends in state and local economies, including unemployment rates and the number of people employed in cities.

The unemployment rate is the number of persons unemployed, expressed as a percentage of the civilian labor force, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. The civilian labor force is that portion of the population age 16 and older employed or unemployed. To be considered unemployed, a person has to be not working but willing and able to work and actively seeking work.

For the past several years, Edinburg has registered the lowest or second-lowest monthly unemployment rate among all Valley cities.

Edinburg’s April 2018 unemployment rate of 4.6 percent is part of a consistent pattern of positive reports, including March 2018 unemployment rate of (4.7), February 2018 (4.9 percent), January 2018 (5.2 percent), December 2017 (4.8 percent), November 2017 (4.8 percent), October 2017 (4.9 percent), September 2017 (5.3 percent), August 2017 (6 percent), July (5.7 percent), June 2017 (5.6), May 2017 (4.9 percent), April 2017 (4.8 percent), March 2017 (5.4 percent), February 2017 (5.9 percent) and January 2017 (6.1 percent).

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, for the month of April 2018, these are the employment figures for the seven largest cities in the Valley:

Edinburg’s annual unemployment rate for 2017 compared favorably with the Valley’s other major cities:

The annual unemployment rate in McAllen for 2017 was 5.1 percent;
The annual unemployment rate in Edinburg for 2017 was 5.3 percent;
The annual unemployment rate in Harlingen for 2o17 was 6.4 percent;
The annual unemployment rate in Mission for 2o17 was 6.8 percent;
The annual unemployment rate in Brownsville for 2017 was 7.2 percent;
The annual unemployment rate in Weslaco for 2o17 was 8 percent; and
The annual unemployment rate in Pharr for 2o17 was 8.1 percent.

Because of substantial methodology changes between 2004 and 2005 in estimating city unemployment statistics, Texas city data is not available prior to 2005, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

Because of substantial methodology changes in geographic areas below the state level, data from 2005 and 2004 or earlier is not considered comparable, the state agency explains.

Effective in March 2015, the TWC also notes that “for all sub-state LAUS estimates, a break in series exists between December 2009 and January 2010 due to a change in methodology used. The use of caution is advised when comparing data from prior to 2010 to that of 2010-present.

The Texas Workforce Commission data on all entities in the state, including cities and counties, is available online at:

“STORIES FROM TEXAS”, A RADIO SHOW/PODCAST PRODUCED BY DR. WILLIAM F. STRONG AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY, HEADED TO PRINT, AUDIO BOOK

Most Texans know “Stories from Texas” – and its signature tagline, “…and some of them are true” – as a radio program and podcast.

Now that radio program, produced by The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is being adapted into a book, officials with The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg announced on Monday, May 7, 2018.

“I’m excited about it because it’s my first creative work. I’ve done textbooks, academic works before,” said Dr. William F. Strong, the UTRGV communications professor who created the radio program.

He called the show “a kind of an accident, really.”

“I had this idea that I would like to teach Texans and non-Texans alike with these great stories that a lot of people don’t know, the great literature of Texas that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” he said.

He reached out to the staff of the Rio Grande Valley’s NPR-affiliate KMBH-FM, now 88FM, with the idea. The first segments covered fun, pop culture stories, like the history of Whataburger and the 12 words Texans mispronounce most. The show’s popularity grew, and Strong produced more segments.

“Other NPR stations started picking them up, and that surprised me,” he said.

He gets feedback from listeners, like story suggestions, but he also gets one particular question about the stories featured – “Which ones are true?”

Strong chuckles at that.

“Some people take it perhaps a little too literally, but I guess the inside joke from my perspective is that they are 99 percent true. I work really hard to nail them down and get it nailed down to fact. If there are two interpretations of it, or two possibilities or two understandings, I’ll give you both of them and you choose.”

The UTRGV professor said the early stories he shared involved Texas folklore and tall tales.

“So I said, well, that’s kind of what we’re known for – stretching things – so I’ll just say that some of them are true,” he said.

Strong is excited about wrapping up the book, which he started working on three years ago. He also said he’s fortunate to know several photographers who are giving him photos of Texas landscapes and more to include in it.

“I’m doing the audiobook right now. That is quite an ordeal,” he said. “I’m even experienced in doing a lot of recording, and I assumed, ‘Oh, I’ll just go and read the thing.’”

He records in a special audio booth housed at UTRGV, with the help of Juan Ramírez and Ricardo Camargo, members of the video team in the UTRGV Marketing and Communications Department.

Strong learned he can only record segments for about 20 to 30 minutes before losing quality. “I found it’s difficult to do in long stretches,” he said.

When the book is complete, Strong will do a book tour.

“I’m excited about going on tour around Texas to do readings and talk about the book,” he said.

Interest already has built up for the book release, and it was featured recently in “Texas Country Reporter,” which airs across Texas and on a national cable channel.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas.

This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island.

UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.

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María Elena Hernández contributed to this article. For more information on the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and the City of Edinburg, please log on to http://edinburgedc.com